The Lioness, the Witch and a Malfoy
by Dewmoon
Summary: "There is a darkness inside you Hermione Granger," it hissed into her ear, freezing her in place. "Do you have the strength to become what this world needs? Or will your fears overwhelm you?"
1. Chapter 1

**Hello! This is my second story and it will be updated very, very slowly since I will be primarily working on my other story. This is just an idea I've had that I'm excited about and wanted to release a little bit of. It is set after the seventh book/movie. For now, I think that's all that you need to know! I hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything but the plot.**

* * *

The bright lights of the ward were almost blinding as she paced in the hallway. The only audible sound was from her echoing footsteps. Breaks were always like this. Fifteen minutes of pacing, followed by a half an hour lunch, followed by another fifteen minutes of pacing.

"Unnecessary bullshit," she muttered under her breath as she turned on her heel and proceeded back the way she came.

One more minute left.

"Mediwitch Granger!" a nurse sprinted out of the operating room, almost running into the very woman she was looking for. "He's back! He's lost almost two liters of blood already!"

"Shit," Hermione hissed and pushed past the nurse through the grey double doors.

It looked like they needed her sooner than they originally thought. Otherwise they would never call her in before the mandatory break was over.

_"WHERE THE FUCK IS SHE?!"_ came a loud snarl from the table in the middle of the sterile room.

He was surrounded by various medical equipment, which were currently probably the only things keeping him alive, and many nurses who were holding him down to the operating table, in addition to the thick, leather straps that were already restraining him.

"_GRANGER!_"

"_I'm here!_" Hermione shouted over his angry complaints and threats to anyone and everyone who dared to touch him. "Move! Let me see the patient!"

Once the others moved away from him and he could see the familiar, bushy-haired brunette, the man calmed down marginally. Unfortunately, the trauma that his body was experiencing prevented him from completely relaxing. He was shaking and his limbs would twitch periodically as he tried to stifle his howls of pain.

It didn't take a genius to figure out what was wrong with him. There was a bloody shirt sloppily covering his entire left side. Hermione slowly pulled it off to reveal a gaping hole that was practically pouring blood. The jagged, stringy bits of flesh that surrounded the wound suggested that someone, or something, most likely ripped the skin and muscle straight off of him.

"Oh dear Merlin," one of the nurses whispered at the sight of the injury, turning a sickly shade before promptly throwing up in a trash can in the corner.

"_Scourgify_," Hermione muttered under her breath, waving her wand without turning around.

Immediately all of the vomit vanished and her equipment was polished, ready to be used at a moment's notice.

Hermione examined the laceration one more time. The amount of flesh missing wasn't what worried her, nor was it the blood loss. Both could be fixed with a few common healing spells that were used during splinching accidents. No, what worried her was the bright blue tinge that seemed to spread outwards towards the rest of his body in long tendrils.

"Merlin Granger," he breathed, struggling to keep his eyes open. "I haven't seen you look this horrified since Weasel accidentally cursed himself and started spewing slugs. Is it that bad?"

"It's pretty bad."

"Thanks for sugarcoating it."

She grinned and pushed some of his sweaty blonde locks out of his face with a clean towel.

"Don't worry Malfoy," she reassured him, "while I do think the world would rejoice if I were to let it happen, you're not dying that easily."

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed! Please favorite/follow and review to let me know what you think! (:**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello! Here is the next chapter! I will be uploading a new chapter for Unapologetic soon as well!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, but the plot.**

* * *

Twelve hours of spells, stiches and expletives later, Hermione finally put down her tools. She sighed in relief. Malfoy would be fine.

Well, mostly fine. No matter how many different healing incantations she uttered, nothing was able to remove the neon blue that seemed to be spreading through his veins. In fact, every time she cast a spell on it, his entire body would vibrate with his magical energy until she stopped. The magic was too complex, even for her.

Fortunately, after monitoring his vitals, she was able to determine that the blue light wasn't really hurting him. It was just… travelling through his bloodstram.

_He's not going to be happy about that,_ Hermione realized, rubbing her temples as she envisioned the inevitable row they were bound to have when he woke up.

Malfoy was no longer in the emergency room, and was instead peacefully resting in one of the many hospital beds that St. Mungo's provided. After the surgery, Hermione took a few minutes to wash off all of the blood and recover from the mental and physical strain that the procedure put on her. She then immediately returned to his bedside to monitor his progress.

In all the years that she'd been a Mediwitch, Hermione never saw anything like this. She was both fascinated and frustrated by the strange substance. Eventually she decided to take a sample and send it to the Ministry for testing.

Curious as to how he was healing, Hermione raised the sheet covering him and unwrapped the bandage. The skin still appeared raw and the wound wasn't completely healed yet, but the color was already beginning to return to his naturally pale body. The blue lights were now covering the left side of his chest and abdomen. She sighed in disappointment and pressed her fingers against the pulse on his wrist.

_Steady_, Hermione thought to herself. _Good._

Her fingers gently trailed over his wound, checking the stiches one more time before her eyes were drawn to the large, teeth marks left on his skin.

There was no way a normal animal could have done this to Malfoy, which meant it had to be a magical creature. None that Hermione ever encountered.

"Maybe some kind of shark?" she wondered aloud to herself. "A really big shark that infects its victims with blue light? There's not enough rows of teeth for that though."

"Yes, because that's the only thing wrong with your hypothesis Granger," came a voice from next to her.

Hermione raised her eyes to meet the steel colored ones of Draco Malfoy, who was finally awake.

"Good morning to you too," she said, conjuring a thermometer to shove into his mouth. "Feeling any better?"

"Tons," he responded sarcastically and spit the thermometer back out, much to her chagrin. "What time is it?"

"Four in the morning."

"I need to go."

"Cute."

"I'm sexy Granger," Malfoy said. "Not cute. Regardless, I need to leave. Potter and Shacklebolt need to know what happened."

He gently batted her hands away and tried to stand up, wobbling slightly. Hermione sighed and moved forward, grabbing his wrists to steady him.

"Must we do this everytime Malfoy?" she asked exasperatedly.

"If you're always going to be this reluctant to let me leave love," he winked, "then yes, we must."

She rolled her eyes. After five years of treating this dolt's many, _many_ injuries, she was accustomed to his flirtatious comments. He could charm the knickers off of anyone on the St. Mungo's staff except for her. It probably had something to do with the fact that they got into monumental arguments practically every time they were required to spend any time together. It really reduced any sort of charisma he may possess.

Objectively speaking, the cowardly, scrawny boy Hermione grew up with, matured into quite the package. He was tall, standing at more than a full head taller than her, strong, with a lean build that came from years of physical labor and training, and extremely intelligent, graduating from Hogwarts as second in their class, right behind her.

His piercing, mercurial eyes often captured the attention of others first. Then came his blonde hair, which was slightly darker now after spending so much time in the sun, and his ridiculous smirk. Whenever he was in the hospital, he would use these traits to his advantage to convince the staff to release him from St. Mungo's earlier than normal. As a result, Hermione now needed to personally keep an eye on him to ensure that he recovered fully.

"_Granger,_ why am I still _glowing?_"

Hermione gave him a tight smile.

"_Tibi dormiendum,"_ she said instead of answering.

Malfoy's eyes rolled back into his head as he slumped forward onto her, causing Hermione to grunt under the heavy weight. Luckily, she managed to use her small frame and push him back into the hospital bed as gently as possible. His legs were still hanging off of the bed haphazardly and there was a chance that he would wake up with a crick in his neck due to his awkward position, but she figured that was a fair punishment for the stress that he put her through.

This unfortunate arrangement of theirs started when Malfoy dislocated his shoulder. It was a simple injury, but the entire hospital was practically upended by the force of the spells he kept directing towards anyone who tried to help. Apparently, Malfoys did not like hospitals and refused to willingly put their welfare in the hands of someone else. When Hermione finally walked in, having decided to take a long lunch to catch up with Ron and Harry, she was astonished to see various burn marks covering the walls and vicious tears in all of the furniture. She was the only person Malfoy let near enough to set his shoulder back into place, stating that she was probably the most competent moron in the whole place, which meant that his odds of survival were greater with her treating him. It was the first, and most likely the last time, Malfoy ever bothered to even remotely compliment her on her capabilities. None of the other Healers were willing to ever operate on him after that experience, and Malfoy insisted they would only kill him due to their gross stupidity. Ever since then, Hermione was relegated to Malfoy duty every time he checked into the hospital.

She rewrapped his bandages and checked his pulse one last time to reassure herself that her patient was healthy. Hermione then left his hospital room, making sure to confiscate his wand and use a powerful locking spell on the door. She'd learned he was skilled in wandless magic after an unfortunate incident involving their apparently sub-standard cafeteria food, so she didn't want to take any chances.

Hermione followed the white hallways of St. Mungo's until she reached the well-lit waiting room. The burgundy colored leather furniture offered a stark contrast to the white linoleum tiles and equally white walls of the room, creating an overall clean and efficient atmosphere. Hermione hated this room. This was where she would have to come out and tell families about the status of their loved ones after a procedure. Usually, it was good news and everyone celebrated before heading to their respective homes. But the other times, when she could barely meet the eyes of the concerned parent, spouse or child, were the ones that stayed with her.

As expected, Hermione was greeted by a familiar man with messy black hair, green eyes and crooked glasses.

"How is he?" Harry asked, fiddling with his wand nervously.

"Your work husband is fine," Hermione said in wry amusement. "I thought you promised me you would make sure he was more careful?"

"I'm trying!" Harry threw his hands up into the air in exasperation, "but he never listens to me! 'Don't go in there Draco,' I said. 'You can't see in there Draco. THE MANTICORE IS PROBABLY GONE DRACO!'"

"Manticore?"

"Yes, that's why he went into that damn cave to begin with. We saw it go in there and figured we'd get rid of it before it started attacking people in the town nearby."

"That doesn't make sense," Hermione muttered to herself, recalling the teeth marks on Malfoy's injury. "Manticore's prefer to use their poisonous spines to attack, not their teeth. Also, Malfoy wouldn't let himself get bitten by a creature that he knew was there. He's too smart for that."

"That could possibly be the first time you've ever said something nice about Draco."

"Why were you two hunting a magical being? That doesn't sound like a job for the Auror Department."

Around five years ago, Malfoy and Harry became Auror partners. While the rest of wizarding society had high hopes that Ron and Harry, two-thirds of the Golden Trio, would become an amazing crime fighting duo, it was proven in less than two weeks that they could not work together without Hermione to keep them in check. As a result, during their training, Malfoy was assigned to work with Harry and Theo with Ron. This arrangement worked surprisingly well for all four of them. Malfoy and Harry were even friends now, though Malfoy still insisted on calling him Potter. On the other hand, Ron and Malfoy never quite saw eye to eye but chose to remain civil, provided that Malfoy didn't call him Weasel to his face.

"We got an anonymous tip that there was a Death Eater causing trouble. We're thinking it was probably just the manticore, but we didn't catch it. Once I caught up with Draco, he was bleeding out and glowing blue on the floor of the cave and the manticore just disappeared."

"I couldn't get the blue light out of him," she informed Harry. "There's some magic there that I can't undo. It doesn't look like it's hurting him though."

Harry's eyes widened with worry.

"Maybe I should-"

"You are not talking to him until tomorrow Harry," Hermione said firmly. "He needs to rest. You can interrogate him on what happened then. For now, just go home. I'm sure Ginny is back from work by now and you should relax with your wife. I'll let you know if anything changes with him."

Harry still looked unsure and like he wanted to stay here the whole night in case Malfoy needed him.

"Do I need to tell Ginny to come and drag your arse out of here?"

He blanched at that and shook his head.

"Good boy," Hermione said, ushering him out the large, revolving doors. "I promise Malfoy will be fine."

* * *

Draco groaned, clutching his head between his hands.

_Fuck Granger and her stupid rules_.

He waited for his eyes to adjust to the lack of light before examining his surroundings. Granger was curled in the chair next to the bed sound asleep. He knew she did this often. She would work late almost every night and then collapse somewhere in the hospital due to her exhaustion. Usually, she slept in her office, but it looked like she accidentally fell asleep keeping an eye on him.

A quick glance at the standard issue clock, found in almost all of the hospital rooms, revealed to Draco it was the middle of the night. He'd been asleep for around eighteen hours. Slowly, so as not to wake Granger, he shifted and placed his bare feet on the tile floor. Wincing at the slight pain in his neck and limbs, he approached her chair and draped the sheet that was previously covering him over her sleeping form.

Draco stretched his arms over his head, flexing his aching muscles and then hissing in pain.

"Shit," he muttered when he saw the red stain spreading slowly over his clean bandages.

He tore the stitches open. She hated when he did that.

His eyes were drawn to the blue light that appeared to be emanating from his veins. It looked like Granger couldn't heal him completely, but it didn't seem to negatively impact his ability to function. It just annoyed him quite a bit, but Draco figured he could wait to solve that problem until after he made his escape.

He could sense there was magic on the door. Granger's magic.

_"Alohomora,"_ he whispered.

The door hummed and glowed yellow before it was silent again. Draco tried the handle, but the lock remained firm.

"You really thought a simple _Alohomora_ would get you out of here?"

Draco spun around to meet Granger's brown eyes.

"One can hope."

She shook her head and stood up, muffling a loud yawn behind her hand.

"On the bed Malfoy," she gestured toward the cot as she rummaged through one of the many cabinets lining the wall.

"Why Granger," Draco smirked. "I never knew you were so forward."

Granger just raised an eyebrow and held up the bandages she'd finally managed to locate. With a huff of irritation, Draco plopped himself onto the bed and dutifully raised his left arm, allowing her to unwrap the now bloody bandage.

"_Vulnera Sanentur_," she murmured.

The skin quickly began to mend itself before their very eyes, leaving behind a highly sensitive area. Granger poked the wound experimentally, eliciting a hiss of protest. She simply smiled up at him, exuding an amount of innocence that he knew she definitely did not possess, and proceeded to clean the blood off of his skin using a damp towel. Granger could have easily used a spell to do all of her work, but Draco knew she preferred to use as little magic as possible when treating a patient. According to her, the procedures were more precise that way. She also said it kept her focused and allowed her to connect more with the person.

"Care to tell me what happened? You said you would be more careful from now on."

"I _was_ being careful," he insisted.

She scoffed and wrung out the blood soaked towel after conjuring a bucket.

"Running into a cave without your partner in search of a manticore is _not_ being careful."

"I can't help it if Potter has a startling similarity to a turtle that's lost its legs."

"Damn it Malfoy," she snapped, putting down the towel. "One of these days, I'm not going to be able to save you. You actually died last time and I had to use an electrocution charm to bring you back! Why can't you understand how _serious_ that is? _Get it through your thick, mind-numbingly stupid, skull_-"

"Alright Granger," Draco interrupted. "You're right. I promise I'll try to be more cautious. This was a mistake. I didn't realize anything bad would happen."

Granger seemed to calm down slightly.

"Idiotic oaf," she muttered before continuing to clean him up.

They sat in silence for a few moments as she efficiently applied the new bandage, taking care to make sure it was secure.

"Stop moving around so much," she instructed, shoving him so that he was leaning back against the pillows. "I won't be able to let you out as soon as I planned if you start bleeding again."

Granger put the bowl and towel into the nearby sink before returning to his bedside and resuming her earlier position in the maroon armchair.

"You look tired," he stated. "Have you been sleeping enough?"

"Yes," she blatantly lied. "Tell me what attacked you so I can figure out how to make you less… _glowing_."

"Is that the technical term?"

"Just tell me Malfoy."

"Fine," he sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I want to preface this with acknowledging that I was bleeding out and could be mistaken."

She motioned for him to continue, fixing her unwavering attention on him.

"As you previously said, I went into a cave following what I thought was a manticore, but I couldn't find it anywhere. The cave was gigantic, so it could have possibly just been hiding well but I'm fairly certain it vanished somehow. Then, all of a sudden, something huge crashed into me. It was as big as a fully grown wizard."

"What was it?" Granger asked.

Draco hesitated before answering.

"It was an eagle."

She was silent as she contemplated his response, frowning and drumming her fingers on the armrest. Draco noticed she tended to do that whenever she encountered a problem that she couldn't find the answer to.

"Birds don't have teeth."

"I'm aware of that fact, yes."

"Eagles don't grow that large."

"Also something I know."

"But that's what you saw?" Granger said, turning her curious eyes on him again.

"Yes," Draco nodded. "It disappeared right afterwards."

"Why didn't you attack first?"

Draco rolled his eyes.

"Trust you to nitpick at my mistakes Granger. Since I was looking for a manticore, I wasn't looking up, which is where it came from. When it attacked me, it knocked my weapon out of my hand with its wing. Speaking of which, where is it?"

She gestured to the corner, where a large sword, encrusted with green jewels on its handle was propped up against the wall underneath the window. It was double edged and primarily silver, with interspersed lines of different colored metals going from the hilt all the way to the tip.

"I made sure they brought it in once you were stabilized, though I will never understand why you can't just use a wand like other Aurors."

"That's rich coming from you," Draco said, closing his eyes and relaxing against the pillows again. "I find that it's more satisfying using a blade."

"How morbidly barbaric."

Draco grinned but kept his eyes closed.

"How many times did you find yourself in trouble growing up, but weren't able to do anything because you didn't have a wand or it was taken from you?"

"Too many times to count."

"Exactly Granger. My sword lets me rest easy knowing that I am capable of doing my job, with or without a wand. Plus, have you ever killed someone?"

"You know I have," she said quietly.

He nodded and continued, wisely deciding not to pry.

"Killing, or even hurting, anything with a wand feels almost disrespectful in a way," he explained. "If I have to take a life, I don't want to distance myself from it. I want to remind myself that it's never something that's easy to do. Of course, I also keep my wand with me just in case."

She remained quiet, but he could still feel her eyes on him.

"What's it made of?"

"Every rare element known to man and wizard alike."

"Impressive."

"Only the best for a Malfoy love," he smirked, opening his eyes to look at her.

She smiled a little and walked towards him, reaching towards his neck.

Granger always did this. Every time he was in the hospital, she checked his pulse repeatedly, even more so now after what happened last time. Draco didn't understand the point of it, considering the fact that if the various alarms in the room were not triggered, not to mention if he was awake and conversing with her, then he was probably alive.

"Good," she said after a minute, removing her warm touch. "I have some work to do in my office. Can I trust you to stay put while I'm gone?"

"Yes Mother."

Granger pinched and twisted a spot on his shoulder, causing him to yelp and glare at her.

"Get some rest. I promise you can be discharged as soon as St. Mungo's opens at eight."

"You should rest too."

"I will," she lied again as she rose to leave the room, "after I work. Goodnight Malfoy."

"Goodnight Granger."

* * *

Draco walked with purpose past the rows of uniform cubicles until he reached the door he was looking for. He threw it open and found his partner hunched over his desk, writing memo after memo using his quill. Once the memo was completed, it would fold itself into a plane and fly through a small opening in the wall so that it could soar through the Ministry until it reached its intended recipient.

"Potter," Draco acknowledged briefly. "Shacklebolt's office."

"Draco you're alright!" relief flooded Harry's green eyes. "I need to-"

Whatever Harry had been about to say was cut off by the door closing as Draco left the Head Auror's office and strolled towards the lifts. By the time Harry recovered and reached his destination, Draco was sitting in one of the three armchairs facing a large mahogany desk that seated Kinglsey Shacklebolt, the Minister of Magic.

"Draco, I-"

"Sit down Potter," Draco interrupted. "Now that all of us are here, we can start the debriefing."

"Well, actually-"

"Go ahead and take a seat Mr. Potter and let's see what Mr. Malfoy can tell us about what happened," Shacklebolt said, gesturing to one of the empty chairs.

Harry looked nervous and displeased, but sank into the seat next to his partner wearily. Draco frowned at the normally irritatingly optimistic man.

"What's got your knickers in a twist?"

"Continue Mr. Malfoy," Shacklebolt said as he rifled through a stack of papers on his desk.

Draco took one more glance at Harry before retelling the two men the same story he'd given Granger earlier that morning.

"Interesting," Shacklebolt murmured, crossing his fingers and examining the blue light, which was now creeping up Draco's neck from under his shirt.

Suddenly, the door behind Draco burst open, slamming against the wall.

"I'm sorry I'm late," Granger said breathlessly as she walked in. "I had one last procedure to take care of."

"Quite alright Mediwitch Granger."

"Hi Hermione," Harry said, now appearing even more uneasy.

"Hello Harry," Hermione greeted before immediately walking towards Malfoy and pressing her fingers to the pulse point in his neck.

"Granger, I allow this behavior in the hospital because it is your job," Draco said as he pushed her hands away from him with a scowl, "but you can't just barge into the ministry to check my pulse anytime you please."

Her only response was a swift whack on the back of his head. He grumbled as he rubbed the spot she hit, but allowed her to monitor his pulse again.

"It's slower," she muttered, "Just like I thought it would be."

"Excuse me?"

Instead of answering, she tilted his head up to look at her and shone a light from her wand into his eyes.

"Reflexes are slower than normal."

"My reflexes are as perfect as the rest of me love."

Granger walked over to the remaining seat in the oval shaped office and addressed Shacklebolt.

"The tests came back this morning. Whatever magic is in him, it's not supposed to be lethal, which is why it took this long for it to have an effect. It's also not a curse or a toxin of any known kind."

"I see," Shacklebolt said. "Any ideas on what it is?"

"One, but I have no way of confirming it currently," she informed him. "I need to do more research and also see where he got attacked if possible."

"Will somebody _please_ tell me why Granger is here?" Draco said incredulously. "She doesn't even have clearance to be in this meeting!"

"Perks of being a War Hero Malfoy," she smirked at his obvious annoyance.

"_Granger-"_

"Mr. Malfoy," Shacklebolt interrupted strictly, though there was some amusement glimmering in his eyes, "I asked Mediwitch Granger to come here to discuss the results of the test with us. I do not want one of my top Aurors getting harmed by whatever this is, even if you are also one of the most reckless. So please behave yourself and let Mediwitch Granger finish her analysis."

"Yes Malfoy," Granger grinned as he glared daggers at her, "please shut up."

"Mediwitch Granger please do not antagonize him either," Shacklebolt scolded good-naturedly while Harry just rolled his eyes.

They were normally the epitome of professionalism, until the moment they were in each others presence. Then it was back to childish barbs and insults, almost as if they never left Hogwarts.

"Sorry," Granger said smiling innocently at the older man.

Draco knew the old man had a soft spot for her in his heart ever since she saved his daughter, who had a rare form of leukemia, a few years ago. Many Healers tried to remove the disease, but Granger was the only one that made any progress by using a mix of muggle techniques and magic. Unfortunately, the girl was still quite sick, but she was now in significantly less pain and had a much greater chance for recovery.

"As I was saying," she continued, "I believe that the magical essence of someone, or more likely something, has been placed inside Malfoy."

"Magical essence?" Harry asked.

"It's basically what makes each of us wizards or witches, the source of our power."

"No one knows anything about the source of our power Granger," Malfoy said dismissively. "There hasn't been research done on it in at least a few centuries."

"If you let me _finish_," she snapped, glaring at him, "I was about to explain that there are some ancient books that suggest experiments were attempted where the magical essence of one person was essentially injected into another."

"For what purpose?" inquired the Minister.

"Squibs. Pure-blooded families that had squibs as children. As we know, pure-blooded families, even today, consider this to be the worst possible thing to happen to them. Even worse than sullying the bloodline. Some families took drastic measures trying to _cure_ their children," Granger explained. "They believed that if they could successfully inject magic into another individual using highly complex and advanced magic, then squibs would be able to wield magic."

"What happened to these people?" Draco said, though he was pretty sure he knew the answer. It was why she was here after all.

"No one knows for sure because there are no documented cases," she hesitated. "But, one can logically assume that the results were hidden due to casualties."

"Malfoy's still alive though," Harry said hopefully. "His pulse is just a little slow."

"That's because magic isn't inherently lethal or nonlethal Harry. Just like it isn't good or evil. However, it is unique to each individual. Each witch or wizard's magical essence is unique to them, like their DNA or fingerprint. If I tried to transfer my magic into you, then you wouldn't be able to control it and your body would end up rejecting it. It's like if I gave you a blood transfusion and it was the wrong blood type, but in this case a transfusion isn't possible because no one alive has the same magic."

"So that means," Harry began.

"My body is dying," Draco said, looking at Granger for confirmation.

"Slowly, but surely," she said, her eyes betraying how worried she was for the first time since she arrived.

"Brilliant," he sighed, leaning back in his chair and staring up at the ceiling.

"Since it's not my magic," she kept her gaze on him. "I can't control it either, so I can't remove it. We need to find whatever creature was capable of doing this to him and get it to remove it somehow."

"How much time do I have?"

"Hard to say, but we should act quickly."

"I agree," Shacklebolt said, writing something down in a notepad on his desk before looking at the trio again. "Mr. Malfoy and Mediwitch Granger will go to the cave and gather all of the data necessary as soon as possible today. Consider this an open investigation as of now."

"Potter and I can handle it," Malfoy interjected. "We can gather any samples she needs and send it back to her."

"About that," Harry said weakly, "I decided I needed to take my paternity leave a little earlier than I originally planned. Ginny's going to have the baby soon and there's still so much to get done around the house before we're ready."

Draco groaned in exasperation, glaring at the Boy-Who-Lived-To-Make-His-Life-Hell. He was known to despise any kind of change, which Harry unfortunately knew too well.

"Fine, assign me a new partner while Potter's out. Just please don't make it someone like McLaggen. That man is a halfwit and would be about as helpful as a slightly pointed rock."

"Don't worry Mr. Malfoy," Shacklebolt smiled, with a tad too much pleasure in Draco's opinion. "I've already found your new partner. In fact, you've already met her and she has intimate knowledge of the case, considering she is your Healer."

_My Healer?_

Draco turned in horror to the woman sitting on the other side of his ex-partner. Granger just smirked and waved at him.

* * *

He stood up abruptly, almost knocking over his chair in the process.

"Shacklebolt," Malfoy practically growled, "a word?"

He stalked out of the room without waiting for a response. Harry looked, if possible, even more nervous after Malfoy's reaction. Shacklebolt just sighed and rubbed his forehead tiredly before exiting the room.

"Are you sure you'll be okay working with him? I know it's short notice since we only told you about it this morning, but maybe we can find someone else-"

"I'll be fine Harry," Hermione reassured him. "It'll be for a couple of weeks at most and it's not like we haven't worked together before."

"The fact that you have and I've witnessed it is what worries me," Harry shuddered, recalling a drastic potions mishap that occurred during the first week of sixth year when Professor Slughorn mistakenly partnered the two of them together.

"We've grown a lot since then," she said dismissively. "I have almost no desire to shove his head into a boiling cauldron these days."

"Almost?"

"I'm not a saint Harry."

The two of them sat in relative silence as they waited for the other two men to reenter the room. After ten minutes, Hermione sighed and stood up.

"I'm going to see what's taking them so long."

"Try not to make him more tense?"

"No promises," she said as she opened the door and turned the corner to find them yelling at each other.

Well, Malfoy was yelling. Shacklebolt appeared to be passively listening and nodding at various, strategic points during his rant.

"I _can't_ protect her out there! You _know _that! It's not safe! She's going to get hurt and then what?! The entire wizarding world will be pissed at me and say that I let her die on purpose because I'm a Death Eater!"

"_Ex_-Death Eater," Hermione corrected him as she approached. "And I can handle myself Malfoy. I don't need _you_ of all people protecting me."

"People don't care about technicalities Granger," Draco snarled. "They care about this."

He forcefully lifted up the sleeve of his dress shirt to reveal his faded Dark Mark and shove it in front of her.

"And they care that the scar on your arm was forced on you while I was there."

"I'll be _fine_ Malfoy! I'm not going to die and no one will put a bounty on your head."

Draco glared at her for another second before turning to Shacklebolt as if she never even spoke.

"She won't be fine."

"That's enough Mr. Malfoy," Shacklebolt said, lifting up a hand. "Not only can we not spare any Aurors to help with this since Death Eaters are causing more trouble than usual lately, but Mediwitch Granger is also the only person qualified for this case. She has a vast amount of knowledge as a Healer, which will come in handy to monitor your vitals and make sure you don't get any worse, and has a significant amount of experience fighting in battle. Not to mention the fact that she is the only one who has any idea what in Merlin's name might be happening to you."

"I can go with one of the trainees," he insisted. "It'll be good practice for them."

"The last time I partnered you with a trainee you made him cry Mr. Malfoy and we were almost sued."

Hermione heard about that from Harry. Apparently the young man had incorrectly stated that the spell _levicorpus_ allowed you to dangle an individual by their hair. Malfoy then promptly informed him that he was a blundering twit whose capabilities only consisted of being outsmarted by an obese flobberworm before explaining that _levicorpus_ dangled an individual upside down by their ankles. The young man, understandably miffed by Malfoy's words, mistakenly called him an idiot. This led to Malfoy seeing the need to demonstrate the effects of the spell on the boy himself and hanging him by his underwear from a flagpole. His only explanation had been that it was for _teaching purposes_.

"She has no formal training!"

"Oh please, Malfoy," Hermione rolled her eyes. "You're grasping at straws now. You and I both know that I was fighting with my wand when you were still learning how to use yours."

"That was more than _ten_ years ago Granger!" Draco shouted. "You haven't practiced since!"

"And I could still hand your arse to you on a silver platter if I wanted to!"

"Care to test that theory?!"

"_ENOUGH!_" Shacklebolt bellowed. "The two of you are partners from this moment forward. You will find a way to work together whether you like it or not and that is all I have to say on the matter!"

Shacklebolt turned back towards his office, his robes billowing behind him and shut the door. Hermione faced the infuriating blonde in front of her again.

"I like this even less than you do," she started.

"I _sincerely_ doubt that love."

"_But_ I assure you, I am quite capable with my wand Malfoy."

"I know that Granger. Everyone and their mother knows that," he scoffed.

"Then _what_ is the fucking problem?" she bit out through clenched teeth. "We need to be able to work together if we want this to go well Malfoy."

Draco sneered and leaned in closer, attempting to intimidate her with his greater size.

"What if you _can't use_ a wand Granger?" he snarled angrily. "_What then?_"

Luckily for her, she'd been surrounded by tall men lacking in the brains department almost all of her life.

"_Then _Malfoy," she said, meeting his gaze and not cowering at all despite the fact that he towered over her, "I expect you to still trust that I know what I'm doing and make good use of that sword of yours."

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed! Remember to favorite/follow and review to let me know what you think! (:**


	3. AN

**PLEASE READ THE FULL NOTE IF YOU REALLY WANT TO KNOW HOW THIS STORY ENDS (:**

* * *

Hello!

I hope everyone is doing well during this difficult time and that we are all doing our best to stay safe and healthy.

I'm going to get straight to the point and announce that I'm leaving fanfiction for the foreseeable future. One day I may return and finish these stories, but likely not until I graduate.

I've decided I want to try writing my own stories instead, so I am currently on Wattpad for those of you who want to check out my writing. I am continuing this story there with new, but very similar, characters. So if you're really curious look up the story Unleashed by Dewmoin (because I can't spell apparently). I would love any feedback I can get because English is not my first language and I really suck at establishing the setting of a story.

I am sorry that I didn't finish this story and my other one, but I do like how this one started out. So there is a good chance that I will come back and take this story in a different direction than I originally planned. Because of that, I'm not deleting it.

Thank you for everything and stay safe!

Sincerely,

Dewmoon

P.S. I post a similar note for unapologetic soon.


End file.
